Welcome!

I hope you enjoy exploring my website. I am “this close” to seeing my debut thriller published, so keep your eyes peeled for news.

I love writing in the thriller genre, even more so if it’s about LGBTQ+ characters. My first series has a queer, trans woman as the main character, and her name is Mary Dubois. Writing a thriller about other LGBTQ+ people was a natural choice for me as a queer, trans woman.

I not only want to represent LGBTQ+ people as characters in my stories, but I am also developing captivating and suspense-filled thrillers that will appeal to most thriller readers, regardless of their inclinations. To be clear, there’s plenty of action. Trans authors are scarce, especially in my genre.

I lived much of my life as a painter. When I transitioned, I felt the world’s weight on my shoulders because now everyone would know this secret I guarded for decades. I had outed myself, knowing how it would reshape the rest of my life. I knew I could not go back. I just wanted to stop pretending to be someone I had never been. My life was hitting rock bottom, and I had no desire to continue as I was. I could no longer endure this shadow-life in which I existed only for the satisfaction of others.

I came out to family and friends in 1999 and began the process of my transition. The following months were a blend of incredible joy at finally being myself and terrible darkness because I felt alone. Many months passed, and I got involved in a support group for trans people and made friends in that community. During this time, I met the love of my life, Dany. About a year later, she made sure I could fully transition, and I never looked back. It’s been twenty-two years of happiness, fourteen of them as a married couple.

During many of those years after transitioning, I continued painting. Only now, the focus shifted to queer women and their lives. I wanted to explore and celebrate the diverse and beautiful variety of people within the LGBTQ community. Then, in 2018, I injured my painting hand, which made it painful to hold a brush, and I started looking for a new outlet for my creativity.

Over the years, I would write down my thoughts and experiences, the good and the bad. I thought about it, assembled everything I had written, and began writing my memoir. It was the first serious thing I have ever written. This inspired me to learn more about the craft of writing, a pursuit I’m still exploring in depth.

It wasn’t enough; my desire to create was burning, and I needed to write more. I’m a lifelong reader of thrillers and horror, so I experimented with a premise for a thriller. Before I knew it, I was writing what would soon be my debut novel, THE RAINBOW KILLER: A MARY DUBOIS THRILLER. It’s the first of a series.

I will make you, dear reader, a promise. I will tell more stories of Mary Dubois as she and her friends solve crimes. I hope you will stick around and follow my writing. I also promise that, like my paintings, I dedicate my thrillers to the lives, issues, and community of LGBTQ+ individuals. I will ensure that you experience all the thrills and chills you expect from the genre, and perhaps help convey the radical notion that we are all humans who have feelings and desires, and are capable of love and understanding. Now, I leave you to get back to work on the next thriller.

Joelle